Resin jewelry pendant pictures

I haven't been making new pendants so much this week as I have been attaching the silver bails to the pendants I have made.  Here's the assortment that will be at the Thornebrook Art Festival next week.

Birds.  Pretty fall colors.  My kids love birds.  But I don't have cardinal pendants...yet anyway.  Those are their favorites (mine too).

Geometric pendants.  A neat little way to be funky without people thinking you've lost it.

Wow, almost looks like a tray of cookies.  With sprinkles.

Still thinking cookies.  Must focus on jewelry.  No cookies until September 26.


There were three more batches of these.  I hope I will be covered.  I never know these things.  All I know is that I will run out of one or two patterns and those won't be the same one or two patterns at the next show.  (Note to self -- invest in a good crystal ball). 

See you next weekend!

MORE weird adventures in resin jewelry making

I wrote a post at the beginning of the month how I had this weird resin curing event happen.  The resin "cured" on top, but slid off the pendant and oozed goo from the sides.  At the time, I thought it was a one time event, so I didn't get to worried about it.

Apparently, I was mistaken.

When it happened a second time (only to one pendant), I thought maybe it was because I was at the end of the bottles of resin and hardener.  Resin HATES water, so I thought maybe some condensation had gotten in and messed with something.  I started new bottles for the next pour.

It happened again.

The entirely bizarre thing is that it's only happening to one (or this time two) pendants.  I do remember that one of the pendants this happened to was one of the last ones to get poured and had more bubbles than the others.  As a result, I had to spend a bit more time using the "straw method" to get out the bubbles.  (Sorry, won't explain that method as I don't want to be responsible for someone hurting themselves.  It can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.)  I'm still thinking it could be excess moisture.

Arrgh.  I obviously need to show some love to resin gods here soon.

New resin jewelry shopping cart

I'm think I'm behind a blog post or two, but here's my excuse:  I'm working on that new shopping cart I've been talking about for months now.  I only have a trial use period of the software, so if I have computer time (which doesn't happen much), I have been working on the cart.

Drumroll please...........

It's ready for its 'soft' launch.  Here it is:  http://www.kmsdesignsonline.com/shop. 

This is YOUR invitation to go over, view, and make comments here on my blog.  Any and all thoughtful insights are appreciated.  It is a functional shopping cart by the way, so that means if you want to buy something.....you can.  AND, if you buy something AND you're in the USA AND you want free shipping, select that as your shipping option at checkout.

I will be adding new resin jewelry pieces throughout the month, but will be making the official announcement on September 1.  (Free shipping on all orders going to the USA ends at that time too.)

I'll have pictures up from last weekend's Hen Party at Linda Blondheim's studio later in the week.

New resin jewelry pictures

I'm changing things up a bit.  While my new website is under construction (don't worry -- same look, but a better shopping cart), I'm playing around with some new pictures of the scrabble tile jewelry.

What do you think?

Sunburst pattern resin jewelry

I am happy to announce that my scrabble tile resin jewelry will be available at the Akron Art Museum starting next week. As I was pulling their order, I was impressed with the selections the museum made. Most of my wholesale clients get an assortment of several different themes. They just ordered from the one theme: the sunburst pattern. They all looked so good together! I had to take a few pictures to share.

Jewelry making on the 4th of July

Even though today is a holiday, I've been making more resin jewelry.  Why?  Because I took a few days off last week, full well knowing that I was going to have to make up for it when I got back.  I have two new accounts in Texas that have placed orders for my scrabble tile jewelry pendants.  Here's a preview of the "bohemian hearts" pattern assortment that they chose:

This pattern is a little different from what I've done previously in that they will have a horizontal orientation.

What I really like about the pattern is that it's not the "cutesy" pink and purple hearts.  It's more artistic and easily wearable throughout the year.

Resin jewelry making studio - what's next?

So now that Las Vegas is done, you might be wondering what I'm doing next?  (yeah, me too)

• Filling Las Vegas orders!
• Working on my new website.  It won't look a whole lot different from the one I have now, but there will be a better shopping cart system.
• Building up inventory of my new resin and pewter jewelry.
• Starting to plan for Christmas orders.  Yes, I know it's June and it's super freakin' hot outside, but stores will start their orders for the Christmas season in July.
• Finishing up a couple of art show applications.

What's on your agenda this summer?

New retail locations for KMS Designs resin jewelry

I'm happy to share with you that starting next week, you will find Katherine Swift's resin jewelry at the following locations:

• Western Folklife Center, Elko, Nevada
• Artspresso, Idyllwild, California
• EllenJ Gifts and Jewelry, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Las Vegas show wrap up

The show is almost over, but I wanted to share with everyone that you will now be able to find more of my resin jewelry west of the Mississippi!  KMS Designs jewelry will now be in stores in Texas, California, Nevada and Utah just to name a few.  I am anxious to share the new locations with you and will do so when I'm back in the studio later this week!!

New resin jewelry in pewter

I want to share a preview of my new resin earrings and pendants with blog readers.  WOO HOO!  They will be listed for sale on my "new and improved" website coming soon!

Brief description:  earrings are 1/2 inch round or square and hang on sterling silver filled ear wires, earring "doubles" are 1/2 inch wide by 1 inch long and hang on sterling silver filled ear wires, pendants are 7/8 inches round/square and hang on a sterling silver plated snake chain.

Mixing the perfect resin color

Now that I'm in overdrive getting resin and pewter jewelry pieces finished to take to the ACRE Las Vegas show this week (yes, this week!), I experimented a little with getting some unique colors.  I broke out my handy, dandy color wheel and started mixing.  Here's what I got:

I got a "baby blue" (far left), lavender (middle left), and "mud" (left).  I was trying to get a warm, red undertone, fuschia.

The baby blue isn't bad.  I'm not a pastel person, but I think if you're are, you will like the color.

I liked the lavender color.  It wasn't next on my list to create, but I went ahead and used it anyway.

This is actually what happened first.  MUD.  Ugly, mud.  I poured it in a couple of pieces before I decided I absolutely hated it.

For some strange reason, I couldn't bear to pour it in the garbage, so I put it in one of my silicone resin molds.  Still hate it.









So after three tries of getting the fuschia I wanted, I decided to hit the internet to find something that would help me get the color I wanted. 

I love wikipedia.

I found an article on Wiki How on How to Mix Colors.  I was skeptical, but decided I couldn't do any worse than I already had done.

Eureka!  I have my fuschia!  (and while I was on a roll, I went for a nice teal too.)

This is exactly the color I wanted.  I was mixing purple, blue and red, when in reality, I had to mix a bright pink with turquoise.  Go figure.

The teal came from mixing the turquoise with just an eensy, teensy bit of yellow.  Love how this one turned out too.


These colors will be ready to sand tomorrow night and will be heading out West with me!

New resin jewelry

Exciting news!

I have a new line of silver tone resin jewelry!  This has been in the making since January (with a couple of hiccups along the way), but they are looking sooooooooooo good!  So here are the details:

These pieces are like what I've been making, with a few exceptions:

• They are made of pewter
• No open backs
• Sterling silver filled ear wires (Read about sterling silver filled wire)

They still have yummy colors and a soft, satin finish.

Here's a few random pictures:

These are a tray of mostly earrings.  There are earring singles (round or square) or earrings doubles (double circles or square/circle).











A closeup of a couple of the pewter pendants before they are filled with colored resin.

Why make resin jewelry out of pewter?  There are actually a few reasons for this:

Sterling silver prices are obnoxious.  (Get precious metals quotes at kitco.com.)  I have created these new resin jewelry pendants and earrings to have the same artistic look as my sterling silver resin jewelry, but I can do it for about a third of the price.  The other neat thing about pewter is that it is an alloy of tin and copper.  (Sometimes it includes lead, but my jewelry does not.)  It's not going to tarnish like sterling silver does.  I love the silver pieces but with the price of silver now and the economy still on uncertain ground, my retail and wholesale customers have been asking about alternatives.  I still have some sterling silver and resin jewelry pieces and will be happy to do the new designs in sterling silver by special order.



 
A group of the new pewter pieces lined up and ready.













Normally, I only do one color pour a day, but since I need to get samples ready to go to ACRE Las Vegas next week, I've been doing two pours a day:  one in the morning and one in the evening.  Here, I've done an orange and a purple color pour.










These are the same orange and purple colors in earrings.











After I get done pouring a batch, I have to let it cure for 24 hours before I can do another pour (at least in the same piece).  To keep the dust off of the resin jewelry pendants and earrings, I cover them with plastic containers.








Ah, they're starting to come to life!  This is after a couple of days.  At this point, I've also done a green, pink, and yellow pour.  Notice the resin cups and dirty paper towel at the top of the picture?  I'm getting the resin all over my kitchen countertops.  It almost looks like a birthday cake has exploded.









Another closeup of the future earrings with resin.  There are a few mistakes to sand off once they're cured.











More colorful resin pendants.














This picture is the reason why I only do one color then let it cure for 24 hours before pouring the next one.  The orange was poured on Tuesday.  The turquoise was poured on Thursday.  The dark blue was poured today (Friday).  Some of the dark blue spilled onto the orange.  The orange was completely cured (hardened) so I just had to wipe off the dark blue.  If I poured all the colors on the same day, the dark blue would have mixed into the orange if it had still been wet and the piece would have been ICK.






This picture was after today's pour.  You can see that in addition to the previous colors, there are some reds, pinks, turquoise and yellow/green.

Don't they look good enough to eat???  I will try to have some finished pictures up next week. 

  

5 biggest blunders men make when buying jewelry for Mother's Day

*Ladies, since so many of you responded that this article was helpful to your men, I am sharing it again.*

I love it when guys are buying jewelry for their ladies. It's such a sweet and thoughtful notion on their part. I LOVE to help them! Unfortunately, it doesn't always turn out well, so I wanted to share the top five mistakes guys make buying jewelry:

1. Not knowing the details. I have actually had men buy earrings for a gift and not know if the woman had pierced ears. Wow! Major gamble! Find out as much information about your lady as possible. A good start is to find out a ring size, bracelet size, preferred length of necklaces, color preferences, metal preferences and any allergies.

2. Getting her something she doesn't have. This is only a good thing if you have heard her say that she wants a ".....". For example, if she doesn't own any bracelets, there may be a good reason why. Maybe she has a job where it gets in the way or she would have to take it off frequently. Take a quick inventory of her jewelry and get an idea of what she prefers or take notes the next time you are window shopping together.

3. Not considering the "what ifs". Is your jewelry purchase sizable? Can you return or exchange it if she doesn't like it? What if she likes the pendant but wants a different chain? Understand the exchange and return policy on the jewelry BEFORE you purchase it.

4. Buying something that doesn't go with her body type. Believe it or not, how a piece of jewelry is shaped or formed impacts how it looks on a person. For example, round earrings do not look good on a woman with a round face. A small pendant on a short chain isn't particularly flattering to a curvaceous woman with a large bustline. When you're buying the piece, get the person helping you to give suggestions or even the model the jewelry if necessary to help with the decision making process.

5. Buying something that doesn't go with her style. Buy her something she will wear! If she doesn't go to a lot of fancy occasions, she may not get a lot of wear from a big, fancy cocktail ring. Inexpensive earrings may be a better fit for daily wear. If she does a lot of work with her hands, a ring may not hold up to her rough schedule, but a necklace might fit the bill

Mother's Day is coming up and I am happy to help the guys out there get a special gift for the moms in their lives. Contact me at the KMS Designs jewelry website for help getting your special gift.

Easter jewelry pendants

I just poured these this afternoon.  They will be ready mid next week.  There will be everything from chocolate bunnies to Easter chicks to colorful Easter eggs to wear.

They need 72 hours to completely cure. Then I add the bails to the back which takes another 24 hours. If you see something you would like, drop me an email to kmsdesigns@hotmail.com.  I'll be happy to hold onto it for you.

Have you seen the price of silver lately??

*This is a part of the Thursday rant series, a tongue in cheek look at my life.*

If you were anywhere close to me this past Tuesday afternoon, the gasp you heard come out of my mouth would have made you think it was either my last or I had swallowed a Snickers bar whole.  See, I called my casting company to get more silver jewelry made only to find out the price of silver has gone up 20 percent in the last 3 weeks alone.  (You can go to kitco.com to get historical quotes of all the precious metals.)

MAJOR GASP!

While I love making jewelry, one of the things I don't like is how working with precious metals is influenced by people using them as investments.  It puts those of us trying to make a living at this at a sometimes serious disadvantage.  While I realize this falls into the "life happens" category, and while I'm taking steps to minimize the impact to me (and customers), the uncertainty of silver prices is making it harder to plan for the future.  I can't expand with my jewelry business the way I would like to right now if I didn't have to worry about this.  (I've been considering hiring an assistant, but may hold off now, even though I really need one.)

Okay, enough gabbing.  I must get back to scour the studio on my hands and knees to find for more silver to send in for scrap.  (Now I understand why people are into dumpster diving.)

Special order resin pendants

My aunt is a big fan of my jewelry. She is also a big Virginia Tech fan (as I am as well). She has written me a few times about how much she likes my new resin scrabble tile pendants and asked if I could use some of her scrapbooking paper to make a Virginia Tech pendant.  Unfortunately the size wasn't right, but I did have another option.

I cut out the Virginia Tech logo into one inch squares.  I sealed the papers like I have done in previous resin bracelet projects.

I had been playing around with using some of my papers in sterling silver plated bezel cups.  The Virginia Tech logo was a perfect fit.











She liked the idea so much that she asked me to make eight of them to give for friends and family as Christmas gifts.  (Hope I'm not spoiling a surprise by blogging about them.)  They look great and I hope everyone loves a new way to share their Hokie pride.